“No, it was not easy to get this result. We played against Kansas City on Sunday, went to Atlanta for an Open Cup game a couple of days later, and then came here for a tough league match. To get two wins and a tie out of these last few games is fantastic. We went to the quarterfinals of the Open Cup where we saw some great competition and then came here and got three points. I would say this has been a successful week.

Sean (Johnson) has been outstanding these past four or five games. He’s a young goalkeeper and he’s finally starting to have really good performances and he’s also starting to look the part. Things like this make the difference and it was the reason we won tonight. Although it was a great penalty that was taken, Sean also made a great save that was able to keep us ahead in the game.

I don’t think we deserved to draw as many games as we have. When we drew against the Revolution at home we missed a penalty like you guys did tonight. It’s a great thing for us to win tonight, in conference, because of the tough week we had, but we did very well. I was proud of the way we played, even though the second half was a little bit ugly and they were all over us. In the end, we were able to seal it out and get a win. We got it done as a group and that’s what is important.

My philosophy is to start quickly and try to score first. If you can do that, I believe that you can usually get a draw. My big thing is to get after it in the beginning, and we did. Mike [Magee] and Quincy [Amarikwa] were really lively in the first half and it went well. I thought we could have scored more goals, but you know, that’s how soccer is. I’m happy we got the win.

Quincy did the same thing against New England at home. He’s a very strong player that knows how to use his body the right way. Along with that being said, our squad was rotated a lot during these past three games. Everyone performed well. I tip my hat to them because the full squad of 18 has been doing well and it’s shown in our results.”

Chicago Fire forward Quincy Amarikwa

“It’s really important, especially if you can come away on the road and get a win and get three points. I mean that’s huge, especially in this league. We’ve just been right on the cusp of breaking out this year. We’ve got a lot of draws but that just means we’re hard to beat, as proved by tonight. And hopefully it translates into more wins and we jump to the top of the table.

Everything is about building momentum. I think we’ve been doing the right things. We’ve been working hard as a unit. We’re really sacrificing ourselves out there and it translated into three points tonight, and hopefully we’ll carry that into our next game.

I was hoping to catch them flat-footed. I think there were two or three opportunities where I picked the back line or their holding defensive midfielder and I don’t think they were ready for it. Luckily, we were able to capitalize early and prevent them from scoring.

Sean made a huge save. We always like our goalies to save everything they’re supposed to and save at least one or two that they’re not supposed to a game. Sean came out on top doing that big time for us. I think that will further boost morale and keep us going in the right direction.

I’m more trying to predict at what speed and strength [the defender] is going to be coming in, and you lean in one direction to compensate for that so that by the time he hits you, he’s kind of hitting you upright. It’s a balancing act. You learn the strength of each player on the field as you’re playing. You try to – almost like a chess match – you try to outplay them.

I think though I make runs in behind and I get runs in behind, I’m fairly decent at my hold up play and most people might not think that, thinking of my size. I think it plays to our advantage, because defenders don’t know if I’m going to hold it up or if I’m going to run in behind. Hopefully we capitalize on that more throughout the rest of the year.

[My partnership with Mike Magee] is good. It’s developing. We’re always looking for each other. We’re usually involved in each other’s goals in some capacity and hopefully it translates into more goals and more assists and more chemistry.

Especially with three games in the short period of time that we had them in, I was going to have to sit some minutes. Unfortunately, [last game] was due to yellow card accumulation but the guys showed up in Kansas City, got our point on the road. It shows our depth as a team and this is probably the biggest week we’ve had all year especially in terms of results. That’s three road games in a very short span of time and we came away with seven points so these are positives to build on and hopefully they carry out throughout the rest of the year.”

Chicago Fire goalkeeper Sean Johnson

“It was just instinct. I think when it comes down to those moments, you kind of have to live in the moment. You don’t really think about it too much. You just kind of react and I just got a good jump on that side and was able to save it. I mix it up in the moment. I’ve gone left, I’ve gone right. I mix it up quite a bit so you never know. If the striker makes it difficult, which he did – it was very well struck – but I was able to get a good jump on it. I was surprised to see it bounce backwards because it was on turf. On grass it just stays put. I was lucky to have the post there. Someone was looking out for me there on that one.

This is my fifth year playing. I’ve faced a lot of penalty shots myself. I just kind of develop my own checklist I go through on the day and it’s different every day; depends on what I really think about when I wake up. Just in the moment I was able to save it. I watched it the whole way. I saw the ball the whole way. I knew it was going to take a bounce; didn’t know where it was going to go. I just got on my feet as quick as possible and I just took it off the line; turned around and took it. It’s really great.

This was huge. At a point in the season where we’ve gotten a lot of ties and we needed to really push and get over that hump. I think it really took a win like this – one that took a lot of grit and a lot of fight to really get the result. Three points and a shutout at that. I’m proud of the boys, and it’s just unfortunate to give away a PK when we worked hard. It shows the effort we put in defending and we were able to come out with a victory.

It’s bittersweet. It’s great to get the early goal, but you’ve got another 87 minutes you know the other team is going to press you to equalize, especially at home. To keep them off the scoreboard tonight was just great.

This week in general has been great for us. We’ve had a long week on the road, the entire week, and starting with Kansas City. To grind out a result on the road, and get the Open Cup win down in Atlanta – which I got to play in front of my family and friends in my hometown – is huge. Using that momentum to roll in, play the game on turf—have that experience coming in—we were able to get the job done.

It’s really great. It’s almost a sense of relief. We can’t relax yet, you know just those three points have been so evasive for so long. We’ve tied so many games. It’s very frustrating. We almost tied there at the end with the PK. We’re getting closer and closer to putting together a complete game. This game for us was great. We played well for 80-plus minutes and it’s just really grinding it out to see the game out in full. We’ll get better.

There is a ton left to play for. We had to regroup, starting with the Open Cup. We had two things to focus on: Open Cup midweek and then shift focus back to the league. It’s huge for us to get this result. We want to keep it rolling. We’ve got a lot to play for, a lot of games left, and we’ll get back to training and get better and get back to it this weekend against Philly.”

New England Revolution head coach Jay Heaps

“Tough loss. That one really hurt because I thought we had some tough decisions against us last week and I thought we responded well. Then tonight, I thought we were going to come out flying and we got punched right in the face the first two and a half minutes. We have to be better and it’s on us.

I thought that we definitely had more chances (in the second half). I thought Jerry (Bengtson) did a great job coming in and impacting the game and I thought Steve Neumann did a good job, as well. It was a little bit of a change to a 3-5-2, it helped out our attack. It would have been nice to punch one in there.

(Lee Nguyen) is one of our playmakers and someone we look to to facilitate our attack. At the same time, I thought we have enough fire power to create. Right now it’s a really tough run. We have to dig ourselves out. We have a penalty kick in the 85th minute and I thought it was well deserved. I thought it was earned. I thought we were trying and we were doing everything we could, but sometimes we’ve just got to make our stamp on the game.

I don’t have the update on Andy (Dorman) yet, but it was significant. Andy’s a tough guy, so we’ll find out more in the next couple days. In terms of Scottie (Caldwell), I thought Scottie did a great job. Scottie came in and had no warm-up time and went in and really was chomping and biting and trying to make plays.

I don’t know if there were positives in all those four (previous games), some losses were worse than others, I believe. But tonight it’s really raw right now. Going back, the subs did a nice job coming in. No one gave up, that’s for darn sure. During the penalty kick in the 86th minute with a team that’s punkered in, it’s not easy. You’re trying to probe and pick teams apart. It’s unfortunate, but you’ve got to use the positives and just keep going. You’ve got to dig even deeper now.”

New England Revolution defender Andrew Farrell

“Every time we have scored a goal first this season we’ve won. It’s tough to get scored on in the first three minutes. Our back line gave up some sloppy goals, and we need to stop that. We carried the majority of the game later on in the first half and the second half but when you make a mental mistake like that and put the whole team behind it’s really tough. Obviously, they are a team that fights a lot, they have 10 ties and that says a lot. We’ve gotten down a goal in the last couple of games, and that really needs to stop.

I thought we had some good chance. We had a few solid set pieces and the PK obviously. I thought for the second half, besides the one on one we gave them, we carried the play, but that’s soccer. We could have come away with a victory but it just wasn’t our day.

It’s soccer and this stuff happens it’s obviously very frustrating. You have the momentum and you think we are going to score but giving up that early goal was just too much. We get one there, we get four more. It wouldn’t feel as bad if we weren’t losing so many games but this one hurts a lot. We thought we were going to come out in front of our fans and give a good performance – which I thought we did – we just couldn’t find the back of the net, and I’ll take full blame for that goal.

I was in the back so I didn’t hear what they said but it happens. I mean Chris (Tierney) is a great PK taker and it was a big-time save.”

I was incorrect in my earlier tweets and statements that a USL PRO affiliate could not be matched with its partner MLS club. I’m a busy guy and sometimes you just have to admit you’re not perfect, sorry!

The only affiliate relationship that needed to be separated for this draw was that of the LA Galaxy and LA Galaxy II who are both owned by the same party.

USL PRO side Orlando City and their PDL side Orlando City U-23s, are both in the tournament but could not be matched up at this stage as MLS teams must be matched with a lower league pairing.

Chivas USA was the only MLS club to not apply to host a Fourth Round Open Cup match.

With those done, I will underscore that the most important principle to keep in mind for how pairings are determined comes from Page 7 of the 2014 U.S. Open Cup Handbook. It states:

“After each Third Round pairing has been determined, each Division I (MLS) team entering in the Fourth Round will be matched geographically to play the winner of a specific Third Round pairing. Instances where a logical geographic fit doesn’t exist will be resolved by random selection."

As all business as a selfie can be prior to walking into Soccer House...

Upon arrival to Soccer House, Competition Secretary Paul Marstaller handed me a sheet of paper with four geographic groupings, plus a wild card pool. The most straightforward grouping was the top table which featured eight Third Round matchups across from eight MLS teams that made “a logical geographic fit” with those lower league pairings.

The pairings with the result of the coin flip are below. Teams that are not bolded either did not have a suitable home venue or didn’t apply to host (U.S. Soccer did not distinguish the reason on this sheet).

FLIP

HEADS

FLIP

TAILS

X

Brooklyn Italians SC (NPSL)/New York Cosmos (NASL)

New York Red Bulls (MLS)

Dayton Dutch Lions (USLP)/Indy Eleven (NASL)

X

Columbus Crew (MLS)

RWB Adria (USASA)/Pittsburgh Riverhounds (USLP)

X

Chicago Fire (MLS)

Minnesota United FC (NASL)/Des Moines Menace (USASA

X

Sporting Kansas City (MLS)

Laredo Heat (PDL)/Ft. Lauderdale Strikers (NASL)

X

Houston Dynamo (MLS)

NTX Rayados (USASA)/San Antonio Scorpions (NASL)

X

FC Dallas (MLS)

X

Arizona United SC (USLP)/Oklahoma City Energy FC (USLP)

LA Galaxy (MLS)

Fresno Fuego (PDL)/Sacramento Republic (USLP)

X

San Jose Earthquakes (MLS)

For the local Fire fans, I was able to take OFFICIAL VIDEO documenting the Fire's winning coin flip:

The second grouping of matchups pooled three Northeast MLS sides with three lower league pairings. Of note here, Marstaller said that because the Harrisburg City Islanders and Baltimore Bohemians are about equidistant to D.C. United and Philadelphia Union, a flip off between the two sides would be done to determine which club would host the winner of that Third Round Matchup.

Based on alphabet, D.C. United was assigned heads and Philadelphia tails, with the Union winning. Because neither Harrisburg or Baltimore applied to host, no flip was necessary as hosting rights defaulted to the Union.

LOWER-LEAGUE MATCHUP

MLS TEAMS

FLIP ASSIGNMENT

Harrisburg City Islanders (USLP)/Baltimore Bohemians (PDL)

D.C. United
Philadelphia Union

Heads

Tails

United's loss on their first flip resulted in them moving down to the next pairing of two lower league matchups where a similar flip had to occur between New York Greek American Atlas/Richmond Kickers and Reading United AC/Rochester Rhinos to determind who would be D.C.'s opponent.

Again, determined by alphabet, the New York/Richmond matchup was assigned heads while the other was assigned tails and the coin again flipped to tails matching D.C. United with Reading/Rochester.

This moved New York/Richmond down to a matchup with the New England Revolution and then flips were done to determine the hosting rights for those two matchups with both lower league matchups winning with heads. For the purpose of clarity, here is how that final grouping looked:

FLIP

HEADS

FLIP

TAILS

Harrisburg City Islanders (USLP)/Baltimore Bohemians (PDL)

N/A

Philadelphia Union

X

Reading United AC (PDL)/Rochester Rhinos (USLP)

D.C. United

X

New York Greek American Atlas (USASA)/Richmond Kickers (USLP)

New England Revolution

The third grouping was a product of Chivas USA being the only MLS club not to apply for hosting rights. Because of this, Marstaller needed to pair them with lower league matchups in which both clubs applied to host, of which there were two: Atlanta Silverbacks/Chattanooga FC (heads) and Charlotte Eagles/Carolina Railhawks (tails).

A coin flip was done to see who would host Chivas and landed tails giving Charlotte/Carolina the hosting rights. This pushed Atlanta/Chattanooga down to the very ending “Wild Card Pool”.

The fourth pool featured the PSA Elite/LA Galaxy II matchup paired against four MLS teams that were within geographical proximity. While both lower-league teams are based in Southern California, because PSA Elite also did not apply to host, Chivas USA could not be thrown into this group.

The most interesting part of the process Friday was the flip-off between four MLS clubs to determine who would play Galaxy II/PSA Elite.

Again determined by alphabet, Colorado/Portland and Real Salt Lake/Seattle Sounders did a preliminary flip. Both losers in that round (Portland & Real Salt Lake) were moved into the final Wild Card pairing, then Colorado and Seattle did a final flip, with Seattle winning again (which should keep Sigi Schmid somewhat happy) and Colorado also falling to the Wild Card group.

LOWER-LEAGUE MATCHUP

MLS TEAMS

PSA Elite (USASA)/LA Galaxy II (USLP)

Colorado Rapids
Portland Timbers

Heads
Tails

Heads

Real Salt Lake
Seattle Sounders

HeadsTails

Tails

One final flip was done to determine the hosting rights for that match with Galaxy II/PSA Elite winning and presumably, since PSA Elite did not apply to host, Sigi will be their biggest fan.

FLIP

HEADS

FLIP

TAILS

X

PSA Elite (USASA)/LA Galaxy II (USLP)

Seattle Sounders

After all the flips above were done, the Wild Card pool looked like the below table, with MLS clubs placed on the right according to alphabetical order. Because of the odd number of matchups, coin flips could not be used to determine who would play each other so Marstaller placed three slips of paper marked “A”, “B” and “C” into plain envelopes. As the matchup moved down from the initial Chivas USA grouping, Atlanta/Chattanooga was assigned “C” while the other two lower-league pairings were assigned “A” and “B” based on alphabetic order.

Marstaller then went down the alphabetic list of MLS sides and drew the slips of paper from the envelopes. When all three matchups had been finalized, final flips for hosting rights occurred, concluding the fourth round Open Cup draw. You can see how the envelopes were drawn and the winner of the flips below:

FLIP

HEADS

FLIP

TAILS

Tampa Bay Rowdies (NASL)/Orlando City (USLP)

X

Colorado Rapids

X

Orlando City U23s (PDL)/Charleston Battery (USLP)

Portland Timbers

X

Atlanta Silverbacks (NASL)/Chattanooga FC (NPSL)

Real Salt Lake

Following the draw, Marstaller said the published fourth round scenarios would not be accompanied Friday by match dates yet. This is because the Fourth Round has three possible match dates over an eight-day span. With USL PRO and the PDL, along with amateur sides having league games between the June 10-18 Fourth Round window, all clubs that have the potential to host a Fourth Round match will have the weekend to give their preferred hosting date before U.S. Soccer balances the already scheduled league games. Because of the logistical process, hosting dates are expected to be announced sometime next week.

A comprehensive list of who won hosting coin flips can be found below.

FLIP

HEADS

FLIP

TAILS

X

Brooklyn Italians SC (NPSL)/New York Cosmos (NASL)

New York Red Bulls (MLS)

Dayton Dutch Lions (USLP)/Indy Eleven (NASL)

X

Columbus Crew (MLS)

RWB Adria (USASA)/Pittsburgh Riverhounds (USLP)

X

Chicago Fire (MLS)

Minnesota United FC (NASL)/Des Moines Menace (USASA

X

Sporting Kansas City (MLS)

Laredo Heat (PDL)/Ft. Lauderdale Strikers (NASL)

X

Houston Dynamo (MLS)

NTX Rayados (USASA)/San Antonio Scorpions (NASL)

X

FC Dallas (MLS)

X

Arizona United SC (USLP)/Oklahoma City Energy FC (USLP)

LA Galaxy (MLS)

Fresno Fuego (PDL)/Sacramento Republic (USLP)

X

San Jose Earthquakes (MLS)

Harrisburg City Islanders (USLP)/Baltimore Bohemians (PDL)

N/A

Philadelphia Union

X

Reading United AC (PDL)/Rochester Rhinos (USLP)

D.C. United

X

New York Greek American Atlas (USASA)/Richmond Kickers (USLP)

New England Revolution

N/A

Charlotte Eagles (USLP)/Carolina RailHawks (NASL)

Chivas USA

X

PSA Elite (USASA)/LA Galaxy II (USLP)

Seattle Sounders

Tampa Bay Rowdies (NASL)/Orlando City (USLP)

X

Colorado Rapids

X

Orlando City U23s (PDL)/Charleston Battery (USLP)

Portland Timbers

X

Atlanta Silverbacks (NASL)/Chattanooga FC (NPSL)

Real Salt Lake

Thanks again to the U.S. Soccer staff for being great hosts once again!

What is it going to take for Frank Yallop to get his first regular season victory as head coach of the Chicago Fire?

Following Saturday’s dramatic 1-1 tie at home to the New England Revolution, the Fire are now without a win in seven MLS games after an opening day defeat at Chivas USA and six subsequent ties as their season has yet to fully take off.

However, four of those seven games were on the road, so if the Fire can pick up all three points at home to Real Salt Lake on Saturday, May 3 after a bye week, the complexion of the season, and more importantly the table, will suddenly look a whole lot better.

Thankfully for Yallop and his coaching staff, the Chicago fan-base have shown remarkable patience and understanding as he tries to impart his philosophies and footballing ideals on to this new group of players.

Yallop came to the Fire with a proven track record in the MLS following a lengthy professional career in England and on the international stage with Canada.

His vast experience in England and early MLS successes as a coach with San Jose Earthquakes has given Yallop, who recently celebrated his 50th birthday, the confidence to remain calm despite the relatively disappointing start to the campaign.

When speaking about the team, their attitude, their effort in training and their prospects for the season, Yallop hasn’t changed in his thinking since his arrival at Toyota Park last October. If anything, he is more optimistic now than before the season began.

He sees a group of players that have shown significant signs of progress in the short time he has been with them and he believes that their first win is about to come. Yes, he believed it would come at home to the Red Bulls. Away to DC.

His confidence in himself and his team still intact, he insisted the win would come with the visit of the Union to Toyota Park. And again, a week later, there was an assured statement that the win would arrive on the road in Montreal.

Looking back, it is possible to see where and how three points may have been won in any of these games, with a little luck or a hint of good fortune. Mike Magee’s late penalty miss against Philadelphia. Late saves by the Impact’s Troy Perkins from Patrick Nyarko and Magee that would have earned the Fire their first win.

Juan Luis Anangono’s penalty miss against New England last time out was another glaring example of a missed opportunity and another occasion where the Fire should have sealed the three points their efforts over the previous 90 minutes deserved.

The reason no one has pushed the panic button just yet, is largely down to the quality of play produced each week, the vast amount of chances being created and the overall level of entertainment served up by Yallop and his attack-minded tactics.

No other team has had more shots this campaign at 101, while only the Montreal Impact have hit the target more often, 38 times to the Fire’s 35 (which they tie with the Seattle Sounders, Vancouver Whitecaps and Sporting Kansas City).

They are the fourth highest scorers after seven games with 10 goals, while Quincy Amarikwa is tied for second on the goalscoring list with four.

There are significant signs of improvement since the side’s defeat at Chivas, with Yallop’s influence gaining momentum with each and every game.

Having struggled to assert themselves in the possession stakes in the opening three games, the Fire have enjoyed more of the ball than their opponents in their last three games.

This has translated itself into more goalscoring opportunities, with the Fire amassing an impressive 54 shots to their opponents’ 17 over the last three games.

Which suggests to me that they are doing well defensively, restricting other teams to an average of six shots per game, while also creating enough themselves to comfortably win games.

That has not happened thus far, but surely it is only a matter of time.

There have been several other positive features to Yallop’s tenure, most notably his willingness to give youth a chance. Earlier in the year, he insisted that he would select players on merit rather than reputation, and he has stood by that assertion with the likes of Harry Shipp, Benji Joya, Greg Cochrane and Victor Pineda all getting a chance to impress.

Add to that the blossoming central defensive partnership of Jhon Kennedy Hurtado and Bakary Soumare, which has impressed in recent games despite the concession of 11 goals, and it is clear to see that the Fire have a solid base upon which to build.

His faith in the wing play of Nyarko and Shipp has also reaped reward with both players contributing to the fluent, incisive build-up play down both flanks that has been a feature of the Fire’s games thus far.

And with reigning MLS MVP Magee improving with every game following his early season injury problems, and his effective link up play with Amarikwa showing real signs of promise, surely that first win will come sooner rather than later.

“Tough one. Déjà vu from the last home game we had. Should have four more points than we’ve got. The team kept going, fighting and that’s good. It feels empty because of the way we have put a lot of effort into the games we’ve had and you don’t get rewarded for it. I think we’ve played pretty well, created some good chances today, had another chance in the last dying seconds to win it and we didn’t. We deserved to win. We had some good performances today. Overall, I can’t fault the guys for effort.“

On quality of penalty and Mike Magee not taking it

“It wasn’t a good penalty kick. Mike missed his last one. Jeff scored a penalty this season. I’m 50 yards away, I can scream whatever I want, it’s up to them to sort it out and who’s taking it, and they decided Juan is taking it”

On the referee and Quincy Amarikwa’s second yellow card

“Didn’t touch him. It’s maybe a foul on Quincy, he’s not diving. He gets run into and he goes down. I can’t comment on the referee, but he’s wasn’t good. He missed some plays that were important in this match.”

On the morale of the team

“Nope, It’s fine. We know we should have won two more games, maybe three, but we haven’t. It’s not like we have fumbled through the game. I thought we played well today. I thought we played well, we dominated. They had some spells, they’re a good team. But you look at the chances and stuff that we did, it’s just disappointing that we don’t have a win.”

On the missing piece to get over that hump

“The missing piece is ice-cold finishing in the last seconds of a game. Away from home it’s difficult to win matches, but at home you got to win. That’s how you get your points and do well on the year. We’ve had two games, and there is no time left on the clock, and we have a penalty kick. The players know that it is important to score that. It’s just a shame we haven’t gotten the points for the performances we’ve had. It’s a long season, but you can’t keep falling behind the guys ahead of you.”

Jeff Larentowicz, Chicago Fire defender

On the result, missing two penalty kicks at the end of games:

“It was bizarre - to see that once is tough, but twice is even worse. It is tough to take.”

On Anangono taking the penalty kick:

“Juan stepped up and grabbed the ball, and that’s just what happened. As the captain and the one who’s made a penalty this year I should have been the one to take the penalty but I didn’t – that’s on me, not on Juan.”

On the second yellow on Amarikwa:

“I’m not going to comment on referee decisions. In the end, it’s a red card and it’s something we’ll have to deal with. Quincy has been outstanding for us. It’s going to be a shame to have to miss him the next game, but we’ll move on.”

On not getting a result:

“The last three games we’ve certainly been the better team – Philadelphia, Montreal and tonight. I don’t think that tonight the other team really wanted to win from the start. They were slowing the game down in the first half and got fortunate on the penalty call. I think it was a penalty because Patrick [Nyarko] clipped him, they got the goal they wanted and they slowed down. In the run of play, outside the last couple of minutes when we were pushing forward, I’m not sure they get a shot on goal from open play. All-in-all it’s more of the same, but if we can get wins going forward it will be ok.”

On the string of draws:

“We feel like we’re playing so well at the start of the year and the build-up of points we feel should have makes the draws tough to take. Again, the way the next game goes – up or down will say a lot. If we win we’re unbeaten with a win. If not, things look a little differently. Everyone needs to stay positive and keep pushing. The good thing is that we’ve been the better team the last three games.”

On the play of Harry Shipp:

“Harry has been outstanding. If I had to say two guys that have pulled us through the first seven games, it’s definitely been Harry and Quincy. As soon I, and I’m sure the coaches, saw him we knew he was going to do something for us this year, and he has, and needs to continue.”

Quincy Amarikwa, Chicago Fire forward

On foul that led to his second yellow card:

“Clearly I don’t think it was a foul, but it’s not my decision to make so what can you do?”

On his goal:

“The ball came back to Harry, I had space in the middle, pointed and he put the ball right where I wanted him to. I took my first touch into the box, put a bit of my body on Farrell, saw that the keeper’s legs were open and put the ball between his legs and that was that.”

On the result:

“It’s disappointing to not come away with three points, but we’re putting ourselves in a position to win games. Juan puts that PK in and it’s a different outlook. As long as we’re coming away with points we’re carrying this confidence into future games and it’s just a matter of time before we’re coming away with some wins.”

Patrick Nyarko, Chicago Fire forward

On his performance:

“Since I got suspended, I had a week to reevaluate my game, I was struggling physically and that red card at the game in Portland affected me mentally. I decided to get back to basics and just play my game. I think it’s been ok so far during the past three weeks but I’m still not happy because we’re not getting the wins. I hope to keep playing the same, getting better and that we get the win soon.”

On draws at home:

“It’s been extremely frustrating, especially since we’re dominating teams, we’re out playing teams and creating the best chances and we’re not getting wins – that’s the most frustrating part. I keep telling the guys that if we keep playing like this we’re not going to lose a lot of games and the tide is not always going to go against us like this. We just need to keep pushing and sustain that until the end of the game. We need to buckle down, even though we’re frustrated, and the wins will come.”

On how this year’s start compares to last year’s start:

“It feels differently this year because we are dominating teams. The last three weeks we feel like we deserved victories, judging from the fact that we that we’ve had possession and have created more chances than the other team – that’s been the most frustrating part. We know we can play the soccer, now it’s just how to find the victories – that’s the test for us right now.”

On the bye next week:

“We wish we were still playing just because we need to build momentum. The week off breaks that up, but guys are experienced and we know what we’re doing right and will continued that stride when we play again.”

The Chicago Fire’s performance in Montreal deserved all three points. Tactically Frank Yallop got it spot on, and Montreal looked like the road team on their own pitch. Yes, the team had an abundance of quality chances, and, not for the first time should have wrapped it up.

Now six matches in, I feel the jigsaw is starting to take shape. The Fire has learned some lessons, grown as a team, and are now poised to claim all three against New England this Saturday (3pm CT on NBC Sports Network).

Personally, I’m excited to jump on the ‘Pub to Pitch’ bus from A.J. Hudson’s and enjoy the match without a headset. It promises to be a very open and exciting match, and here’s what I’d look for from a tactical perspective…

Defender of the Year Injured?

In 2013, the Revs stood tall and kept an MLS best 14 clean sheets. After a dismal start this year, conceding four in Houston, Jay Heaps’ defense is starting to show its strengths once more, allowing just three goals in their last four matches.

New England’s hope of keeping the Fire scoreless will be dealt a huge blow if 2013 MLS Defender of the Year Jose Goncalves fails to overcome a right quad injury that he picked up last week. Goncalves was outstanding against the Fire last season. His strength and positional awareness often masks many of the deficiencies in partner A.J. Soares.

Soares tends to ball watch, a trait that won’t bode well against the budding partnership of Mike Magee and Quincy Amarikwa. The Revs full backs also love to attack, meaning there may be plenty of space for Amarikwa to test Soares’ pace and strength. From where I’m standing, there’s only one winner in that battle. Excuse me, what time is it again? That’s right, it’s #QuincyTime!

Revs attack is riddled with talent, yet predictable

Only three Revs players have hit the back of the net this season, and the team has been held scoreless in four of its six matches. There are many reasons for this lack of production, including injuries to key players and new players gelling. My take is that this Revs 4-1-4-1 formation is too predictable at the moment.

Teal Bunbury is obviously a good player, but he’s been a little too isolated by himself, and if the Fire defense do anything, don’t allow him stretch his legs in behind. Daigo Kobayashi and Lee Nguyen are excellent ball players, with exquisite vision and passing ability and they’ll look for Bunbury through the channels or over the top all afternoon.

The Fire gave up two big chances in Montreal last week, both errors, sending McInerney and Di Vaio racing through on goal. Luckily for the Fire, Di Vaio blazed over in the second half.

Chicago’s defense has been improving every match, and I have no doubt that the Men in Red have the ability to physically brush Bunbury and Co. aside, however, have they learned enough lessons in order to stay mentally strong for 90+ minutes and eliminate any costly errors?

From battle of the Franks, to battle of the Flanks

There's a possibility that Patrick Nyarko and Harry Shipp will again occupy the flanks for the Fire on Saturday. Offensively, they’ll be given room to express themselves, but defensively they’ve got a tough job on their hands.

New England’s wingers, poster boy Diego Fagundez and Frenchman Saer Sene love to cut inside, leaving space for their full backs (Andrew Farrell, Chris Tierney, Kevin Alston etc) to attack. New York’s constant rotation in midfield caused the Fire problems earlier this season, and they’ll face a Revs side that also loves to roam. Discipline, shape and communication will be key when defending.

With that said, New England leave gaps and they can certainly be exposed when they turn the ball over. It’s crucial that when the Fire do win the ball back, they pick a pass and look to hit Amarikwa or Nyarko in transition immediately.

When the Fire plays with pace and direction, it’s a very dangerous team, but when the Fire loses its momentum and tempo, they suddenly start to play on the opposition’s terms. A perfect example of this was the excellent first 20 minutes vs Philadelphia, compared to the shoddy second 25.

PREDICTION: I don’t see a reason to make any changes to the team. Those 11 deserve to play from the start, but if fit, I think Dilly Duka would be a great guy to bring on against the Revs.

This is a good matchup for the Fire right now. I’ll go with a first clean sheet and a first win of the season. 2-0 Fire with goals from Mike Magee and Patrick Nyarko.

Editor’s Note: What’s that? Kevin Egan’s doing the Tactical Preview now? Nah, just lending a hand to fellow Irishman Stephen Piggott who is currently in the Republic and unable to do this week’s Tactical Preview.

“I thought we played very well the whole game. We really deserved the win, I think, today. Having said that, going a goal down right before halftime is never a good time. My team talk was to keep going. We were going to get chances, get that equalizer and hopefully go on to win the game. I’m very proud of the way we continued playing against a difficult side.”

On how to get their first win

“If we keep playing like that, the wins will come. For me as a coach, I could only ask for effort, play and to create chances. We’re getting punished for the odd chance the opposition is getting right now. In our last two games we’ve played well enough to win both games, but we haven’t. So we got to keep going and not worry about it.”

On the Jack McInerney and Marco Di Vaio partnership

“I had a feeling they may do that, with Jack coming into the team and them going for a home win. We were prepared for that. I think both of them run in behind very well. And to be honest, if you look at their goal, they did it well.”

Forward Mike Magee

On the game’s outcome

“Today was a good result. We’ve improved as the season has gone on. Today I felt we had a couple of missed opportunities. We were the better team, and you know it’s just unfortunate.”

On his side’s confidence heading into the second half a goal down

“Obviously you don’t want to give up a goal at the end of the half. At halftime, we said to keep doing what we were doing, keep plugging away and don’t break our shape. We felt like we were going to get the equalizer and we also felt like we were going to get the winner, but it didn’t come.”

Forward Quincy Amarikwa

On scoring the equalizer

“We were confident to get everyone in the box as much as possible, just force the issue and pressure until something fell our way. I think Montreal was on their heels most of that sequence up until that goal and I felt it was just a matter of time until one of us put it away.”

On what is needed to get their first win of the season

“A shutout. I mean if we can hold another team to zero goals, we’ll win. We’re scoring goals every game and that’s what you want out of your offense. Collectively as a team, we just need to lock it down and not have any lapses in defense.”

A third round pick in the 2003 MLS SuperDraft, Chicago Fire midfielder Logan Pause had already capped off a decade with the Men in Red last year before extending his deal to come back for a 12th season with the club in 2014 on Friday.

Logan's longevity got me thinking about players that held the longest consecutive tenures in terms of both years and games played ith one MLS club. After some research, I found that Fire legend and new assistant coach C.J. Brown holds the record for consecutive seasons with one team at 13, while Logan will tie Cobi Jones (LA Galaxy) and Pablo Mastroeni (Colorado Rapids) when he makes his first appearance for the Fire in 2014.

A look at the Top 10 players with the most consecutive seasons at one MLS club...

Rank

Player

Club

Years

Consecutive Seasons

Games Played

1

C.J. Brown

Chicago Fire

1998-2010

13

296

2

Cobi Jones

LA Galaxy

1996-2007

12

306

3

Pablo Mastroeni

Colorado Rapids

2002-2013

12

216

4

Logan Pause

Chicago Fire

2003-present

11*

274

5

Shalrie Joseph

New England Revolution

2003-2012

10

261

6

Davy Arnaud

Sporting KC

2002-2011

10

218

7

Jason Kreis

Dallas Burn

1996-2004

9

247

8

Kerry Zavagnin

Kansas City Wizards

2000-2008

9

237

9

Landon Donovan

LA Galaxy

2005-present

9*

216

10

Jay Heaps

New England Revolution

2001-2009

8

228

*-denotes active MLS player

You may be wondering where are Jaime Moreno and Ramiro Corrales? Good question. Moreno holds the MLS record for most seasons with one club, spending 14 years with D.C. United but he did have one stint with the MetroStars that broke up his two long stints in the nation's capital.

In Corrales' case, while he never played for another MLS club other than San Jose after being traded back to the Quakes in 2001, he did spend a few years abroad in Norway with HamKam that keep him out of the consecutive seasons count. Corrales spent a total of 12 seasons in San Jose over three stints (1996-97, 2001-04, 2008-13)

Just for fun, a look at the record number for consecutive appearances for MLS club is below too: